Mexico self drive Yucatan

[BigDahliaFan]

has anyone hired a car and done a self drive holiday in Yucatan peninsular. Seen some lovely itineraries....husband is comfortable driving on right side of road as he lived in US for a while. But just a bit worried about safety....

No but this is very much on our list, would you be able to share the itineraries you found ?

https://www.journeylatinamerica.com/destinations/mexico/holidays/self-drive-mexico/?_gl=15brg3b_up*MQ..&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoO7Pu_SrhwMVspJQBh1QxgCdEAAYASAAEgI9pPD_BwE this one...

Hmm..sorry to be negative but I would do as much research as you can before you decide..check out the gov website etc.

The main roads have lots of check points which are manned by the local police. The police are corrupt and regularly "fine" you for just going about your day. The roads don't feel particularly safe, there's lots of areas not recommend to travel so you'd need to check your travel insurance. I personally found the whole thing really concerning and didn't like that the police could blackmail you into paying them. Good luck if you go ahead.

I would not be comfortable with driving there either as PP said. We took buses and they were fine (we did Mexico, Guatemala highlights).

I'd skip Cancun and head to Tulum instead a bit further south along the coast. Merida was nice.

Oaxaca (Mexico) and Tikal (Guatemala) were stunning in that region if you were considering venturing beyond the Yucatan!

I did this almost 30 years ago (!). We rented a VW Beetle. We got stopped once by a motorcycle cop for a ‘fine’, which we didn’t pay by pretending not to understand. He gave up after a while. Apart from that, It was all fine and fun and pretty much the only way to visit the more out-of-the-way Mayan sites. I’ve not been back but I’d be a little bit more hesitant these days, but I’d certainly consider it.

I think things have changed a lot in 30 years, good friend went round by bus 20 years ago and it was fine, but I think it’s changed since then. But more recent American tourists seem to think it’s ok.

We did that earlier this year, no problems at all.
First night in Cancun to recover from flight. Then Chichen Itza and stayed in Merida for a few nights.

Drove to Celestun and Uxmal. Then onto Playa del Carmen via Ek Balan.

Yes there were scammers (car parks and petrol stations but you wise up pretty quick). We stayed on main roads which were in better condition than roads in the UK!

There were frequent armed checked points but they had no interest in us and waved us through.

I would definitely recommend and would do it again. If really was no trouble at all.

Everything was booked independently and the holiday was fairly cheap.

Oh and just to add.... obviously no where is totally safe, but that part of Mexico is regarded as the safest. Particularly Merida.

You definitely need to do research as just turning in a random town could be risky, but the more touristy areas are generally ok. Armed guards everywhere, especially in Playa del Carmen) but they are a reassurance rather than a threat.

Just bumping for any new advice....

We did it this summer. Had read lots of horror stories before we went but was all fine. We only travelled around for about 6 days and had longer stays by the beach at the beginning and end. A few police checkpoints but all incident free. Roads in a great condition mainly. Lots of other tourists driving around as well.